A security system for monitoring a shipping container being transported on a cargo transport vehicle and methods for making and using same. A mounting device removably couples a container security device (CSD) to the cargo container. Monitoring cargo inside the container and detecting vehicle intrusions and container damage, the CSD includes an anti-tamper sensor, a microcontroller, a communication device, and a plurality of accelerometers and strain gages. The microcontroller generates an alarm signal based on output data from the anti-tamper sensor and records container events. The anti-temper sensor undergoes individual and integrated sensor processing procedures; whereas, the integrated sensor processing procedure determines a container alert status. The accelerometers and strain gages define a moment of inertia of the cargo container. Communicating with a telecommunications network, a network operations center of the security system receives data from the CSD for storage and creating an archive of the container events.
Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.
1. A security system for monitoring at least one cargo container, the system comprising: a container security device for detecting a tampering violation of a selected cargo container, said container security device being removably coupled with the selected cargo container and including: a light sensor for generating first output data upon detecting intrusion or fire in said container; at least one anti-tamper sensor for generating second output data that undergoes an individual sensor processing procedure and an integrated sensor processing procedure for determining a container alert status; a microcontroller for generating the container alert status from the first and the second output data; a communication device for transmitting at least one of the first and the second output data and the container alert status; and a plurality of accelerometers and a plurality of strain gages for defining a moment of inertia of the cargo container, said plurality of accelerometers having a first accelerometer being coupled with said container security device at a location distal from second accelerometer disposed within the cargo container; and a network operations center for receiving at least one of the first and the second output data and the container alert stats from said container security device and comprising a communications facility for communicating with at least one telecommunication network.
2. The security system of claim 1 , wherein the microcontroller is configured to monitor the output signal from the light sensor to determine intrusion or fire.
3. The security system of claim 1 , wherein the microcontroller is configured to recalibrate the light sensor in the process of its monitoring.
4. The security system of claim 1 , wherein microcontroller is adapted to initiate further analysis of the output signal, and/or other sensor signals when the measured light within the container exceeds a certain rate of change threshold.
5. The security system of claim 1 , wherein the container security device further includes one or more of a temperature sensor and a smoke detector sensor.
6. The security system of claim 5 , wherein the microcontroller is configured to monitor an output signal from the smoke detector sensor to determine if chemicals are present within the air, and/or air clarity inside the container exceeds a predefined threshold level.
Cooperative Patent Classification codes for this invention. Click any code to explore related patents in that topic.
December 9, 2014
February 16, 2016
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